2017 was a stinky year for Tim Eyman. It ended with a thud last weekwhen he confessed to not collecting enough signatures to get onto the ballot a measure that would reduce car tab fees and kneecap Sound Transit.

Most of you have never heard of Zheng He. Between 1405 and 1433, this Chinese admiral of the Ming Dynasty led seven major explorations into the western reaches of the Indian Ocean. The largest of these explorations included almost 300 ships and carried close to 30,000 people.

Whether we’ve seen eye to eye or simply disagreed, my conversations with all of you, on the sidewalks of downtown, at restaurants or in grocery stores, council meetings to community auctions, are what have kept me inspired, kept me going and kept me feisty.

Finish this sentence: “What doesn’t kill you___________.” This is how I introduced my recent continuing education class entitled, “President Trump a Year Later.” Of course, this quote is normally completed with the words, “makes you stronger.”

While the column correctly points out that Trump supporters are happy with his performance and still enthusiastically support him, Mr. Elfers had to inject the liberal “lie” that Trump supporters are racist.

Since Russia helped Syria’s Bashar al-Assad stay in power and helped to defeat ISIS, are Russia and the U.S. at odds in the Middle East? Is Russia threatening American dominance in the region? The answer to both is no.

For all who write negative comments about the football players who took a knee and posted that “this is not the America we grew up in,” let me share a few of the personal events from my life growing up in Tacoma Washington as a white woman.

“Support Trump? Sure,” she said. “I like him.” These words by Pam Shilling from Trump Country western Pennsylvania reflect what many Trump supporters are thinking a year after the 2016 election victory, according to an article excerpted from “Politico.com” by “The Week” (Dec. 1, 2017).